State virus cases rise by 954; deaths up 40

The state’s count of new coronavirus cases rose by 954 Saturday, an increase from the more than 500 new infections reported Friday, according to the Arkansas Department of Health.

There were 40 additional deaths reported Saturday, bringing the death toll from the pandemic in Arkansas to 5,252.

“While we saw lower cases than last week, we’re reminded of the severity of the virus with 40 additional deaths,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a tweet. “Even though the weather is cold, we must continue to get our vaccinations into arms.”

“The virus does not take a day off,” the governor said.

As of Saturday afternoon, an additional 14,812 doses of covid-19 vaccinations were given since the day before, bringing the total number of inoculations since mid-December, when the state began rolling out the vaccines, to 445,040.

That figure includes first and second doses of two coronavirus vaccines, one developed by Moderna, and the other by Pfizer and BioNTech. The state expects to receive more than 47,000 initial doses in its vaccine allocation this week.

Also since Friday, the state reported that it had received an addition 800 doses of vaccines, bringing the total doses received to 658,000 since Dec. 14, according to the Health Department.

Hospitalizations decreased by 22 Saturday to 690. Of those patients hospitalized, 113 were on ventilators.

Total active cases decreased by 351 to 12,222, the Health Department said.

Counties with the most new cases include Pulaski with 121, Benton with 100, Washington with 56, Sebastian with 44 and Saline with 43.

The Health Department reported receiving results from a total 7,181 polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, and antigen tests of Arkansans that were conducted Friday, a decrease of more than 1,300 from the tests received Thursday.

Health Department officials say that fewer tests were given over the past week because of inclement weather, resulting in courier service operations being suspended and some testing facilities that were closed because of icy roadways.

The Arkansas Department of Health is encouraging people to check for closures this week because of inclement weather.